DNSFilter

Avantages

Easy integration within our environment and the admin page is able to check logs and whitelist/blacklist sites easily and quickly.

Inconvénients

If a roaming client quits working, hard to get it working again.

Avantages

We wanted a product we could deploy at the router level, DNS Filter provided that ability and a very easy to use UI and Dashboard.

Inconvénients

At this stage we are yet to find anything we do not like.

Avantages

It's easy to use. Cloud DNS filtering that was cheaper than an appliance? Great!

Inconvénients

They changed the pricing model from usage based (Which they were so proud of) to user based. We have lots of users and many volunteers with little usage. This pricing strategy invalidates any reason to use this company over the competition.

Avantages

Easy to use filtering DNSFilter is an easy to use content filtering solution. Policies are easy to update, the DNS servers are fast, and support has been great the couple of times we've run into issues.

Inconvénients

Like any DNS content filtering solution, you need to prevent users from using different DNS servers to get around the filtering. We use our firewall to block outbound DNS traffic to any other hosts which does the trick.

Avantages

First, it worked with my specific firewall/router, pfSense.
Second, the cost was appropriate for our school.
Third, it is easy to make separate policies for students, teachers, administrators, staff, and IT.
Fourth, a roaming client is included. We successfully tested it's capabilities, and will be installing it on all of the students' Chromebooks by pushing it out from the Google Workspace for Education dashboard.

Inconvénients

Insights Reporting shows yesterday's activity when you first use it. It is a small annoyance when you want to see current activity.

Avantages

Filtering at a great price, It is easy to setup and select the filters you need for that particular site and I love the branding feature

Inconvénients

Does not have an option for School Filtering, I use this application to filter schools and home internet but I have to also use K9 filtering because this doesn't cover it all and sometimes SSL could not be filtered

Avantages

Easy to implement. Easy to navigate GUI.

Inconvénients

Reporting can be better and better granular reporting per end point.

Alternatives envisagées 

WebTitan

Pourquoi passer à DNSFilter

It was very easy to sign up and get started with DNS filter. At that time pricing was per usage model which fit in perfect to sell to even smaller clients.

Avantages

Simple to install and it actually works !! Support is excellent always prompt and knowledgeable. And the override button sorts out any issues

Inconvénients

No fixed per month fee and sometimes bank websites don't work and need to be whitelisted. Otherwise it would be nice to have separate password levels for accessing websites

Avantages

With one panel we can admin all of our clients and protect the users from many different threats.

Inconvénients

With the addition of the client on the workstations giving detailed reporting, there is not much else we could want other than maybe even more detailed reporting.

Alternatives envisagées 

Unleashed

Pourquoi choisir DNSFilter 

Better performance.

Pourquoi passer à DNSFilter

price and ease of use as well as a single pane of glass for all clients.

Avantages

The ability to offer it to my clients and their MSP program. It is very easy to deploy it to my clients, easy to bill and manage.

Inconvénients

In the beginning the reporting wasn't as well as I'd like but it has evolved.

Avantages

Ease of integrating into customer sites.

Inconvénients

At this point, there is nothing I do not like.

Avantages

Very easy to setup, cheaper than the competition, and provides an easy way to secure your network

Inconvénients

We had a few problems with the chrome os support, but dnsfilter were helpful resolving them.

Avantages

DNSFilter provides a quick and easy option for CIPA filtering, allowing some peace of mind that we are doing our best to maintain compliance at every step. Between the custom DNS options and the roaming client, we can cover our bases.

Inconvénients

No options are foolproof, and DNSFilter is no exception. Without some pretty tight rules, it's easy enough to overcome most custom DNS settings.

Avantages

From sign up to deployment was only a matter of minutes. We now have an additional layer of protection and insight into what sites staff are using. In addition to our standard antivirus and firewall technologies this solution with DNSFilter helps us better manage our remote devices as well and ensures our fleet is protected even now with remote working becoming the norm.

Inconvénients

No real cons though it'd be good to see the reporting capability further improved whereby we could get scheduled reports based on user activity.

Avantages

This can be setup and configured in under 20 minutes and is just so simple to deploy. The filtering and advanced features prevent newly registered websites from being reached by users which is likly to be a malware containing site. The content filtering is so simple and Whitelists can quickly take care of anything that is incorrectly blocked.

Inexpensive solution that packs quite a punch

Inconvénients

very little not to like. I cant say there was anything I did not like

Avantages

Flexible deployment with a mix of DNS and software client base deployment options...

Inconvénients

Support is email only - and inadequate when you have a K-12 client who needs an answer quickly.

Avantages

Fast to setup
Fast to update rule sets
Filtering is comprehensive
Pricing is very fair
Dns Servers are reliable
Instructions are clear and simple

Inconvénients

Not as much a con as an suggestion but if it could detect/exclude your ddns provider from the rule set it would sure help deployment speed especially in smaller environments where you find equipment which do not always allow ddns to be setup in the device itself or static IP's . I know its not really meant for that type of environment but it is an potential market I am exploring and the product is well suited to it. If you could release something like the small DUC client from No-IP that would be great.

Avantages

DNSFilter gives us an addtional, always on, internet security layer to help protect our customers.

Inconvénients

No active monitoring, it would be nice to have a quick app to see network status.

Avantages

Easy setup, great value for features offered, good customer support.

Inconvénients

Some of the features take a little bit of figuring out in order to configure. Submitting domains for re-categorizing is not intuitive.

Avantages

DNSFilter helps keeps systems secure and monitored. Roaming agents allow the systems to be protected where ever they are located.

Inconvénients

False positive malware detections can cause frustrations with customers who are not aware of the current IT security landscape.

Avantages

Easy to use, setup was a breeze, and the service reliability has been 100% uptime. The response speed of DNS resolution and the reliability is better than the local ISP. DNS resolution affects the user's perception of the internet speed and reliability. This service is becoming a must-have for my customers.

Inconvénients

I would like the ability to blacklist and whitelist IP addresses for customers who do not have a local router.

Avantages

Ease of use and the fact that there is an agent that allows me to create filters per user. This is very useful.

Inconvénients

There is no way to submit requests to a "wish list" in the panel or in general. If possible I would like a button in the panel where I could submit ideas for improvements. I would also like to be able to add my own RBL servers to the filtering.

Avantages

The interface is responsive, reliable and two factor authentication is a godsend. It's never gone down for even a minute in the 5+ years we've been using the service.

Inconvénients

For some reason multi-select editing doesn't work. It's possible it's not meant to do this but the checkbox makes me thing it could?

Avantages

Continual development of new features, dead simple pricing, granular configuration and reporting mechanisms.

Inconvénients

Lack of transparency when choosing a particular category to block. Would love to have granular control over items in blocklists, with the ability to add my own to the category (or create my own category)

Avantages

Quick response, low cost. Excellent alternative to the slow and expensive competitors. New features are constantly coming.

Inconvénients

No email alerts available. Reports could be better, I would like the ability to drill down to the user/machine level.

Avantages

Deployement is easy to start, Dashboard looks good.

Inconvénients

fine tuning is difficult and lacking in several domains. The usefull extras are expensive. Customer support is not responsive at all. Be careful with sharing your credit card data during the trial period. They charge you immediately and if you cancel you lose access to the service (even when charged).

Avantages

Easy to deploy to our 600+ iPads. Great integration at JAMF School. The management console is full of useful features.

Inconvénients

Query log should be longer than 24 hours. Also query log search is a bit slow.

Alternatives envisagées 

WebTitan

Pourquoi passer à DNSFilter

As easy to deploy and powerful as Umbrella, but it has several times lower cost. Full of features not available at both Qustodio (lack of useful console, force full VPN traffic) and TitanHQ (individual identification).

Avantages

DNSfilter's services are so helpful because it adds a layer of protection between the clients on our network, and what may be trying to get on their screens or devices from the web. This also prevents people from using our internet service for purposes that are not in line with our organization.

Inconvénients

The router we use on our network is a big step above a simple home router, so it took some research to make sure I was setting it up properly. Even in that, the dnsfilter team was helpful in directing me to some online articles to help guide me through the process.

Avantages

1. Simplicity to configure.
2. Ability to monitor individual use through agents rather than Active Directory.
3. Ability to set schedules for policies including free time for surfing during lunch which appeases the staff somewhat from the shock of having filtering introduced.
4. Attractive GUI.
5. Superb value for money.
6. The additional features such as crypto mining protection, bot protection, etc are very welcome.

Inconvénients

I really don't have any criticisms for this product. It does so much more than other cloud based DNS products on the market, and that I tested, that within a day of installing it for a 14 day trial I had already decided to buy this for my company.

Avantages

Ease of setup and configuration. I was able to get sites up and running in no time and with the templating option it makes it that much quicker.

Inconvénients

If anything, web interface is a little clunky when trying to manage from a tablet or phone. There are times I'm not near a workstation to make minor quick adjustments and using a phone would be great.

Avantages

Its quite easy to use and the dev team has a great plan for the future. They are actively listening to their customers and I personally hope to increase my 'Features and Functionality' rating to 5 in the near future!

Inconvénients

Some of the missing features specific to my business, and the adaptation of the service in our business was slightly difficult. Its sometimes hard to determine the cause of a problem (ie, SMTP mail failures due to false positives by DNS Filter).

Avantages

DNSFilter is a software that offer a lot features that we may find somewhere else but really expensive. We have been looking for a good web-filter with a limited budget, DNSFilter offered a better, easy software to use and a perfect price for us. The support team are awesome, always answering quickly and efficiency. I will would recommend this software as they keep doing update and add more features without asking to pay more. Really good deal.

Avantages

Compared to the competition their service cost is very reasonable! The features are great and everything just works.

Inconvénients

*Needs a mobile client (they are making one though)
*Does not currently support IPV6 (however neither does most of their competitors)

Avantages

Easy to use, easy to set up, easy to monitor. Very simple to use in multiple locations. Good support. Minimal performance impact.

Inconvénients

The online reporting sometimes has issues when switching between time periods. It appears to get confused on the time period.

Avantages

I loved that it was quick and easy to set up and "install". The weekly reports help keep our students safe and the faculty aware of nev'r-do-well activity. It gives our faculty, me and our parents an assurance that we are looking out for their student's best interest.

Inconvénients

At first it was difficult to figure out where I could access the specifics of the weekly report. But after simply responding to the report email , I received an answer that was mostly helpful.

Avantages

We primarily use DNSFilter as a basic website filter and secondarily as a web protection filter against malicious sites. Ease of configuring and setup is amazing.

Inconvénients

This isn't necessarily a con on the software itself. I need better instructions on preventing DNS circumvention for configuring my router with DNSFilter.

Avantages

Affordability, ease of use and functionality.

Inconvénients

When license price is increased significantly.

Avantages

This collection of tools is not only robust and easily implemented but it does its job at a reasonable cost. I reviewed several others before picking DNSFilter and all of the others were over the top in terms of cost.

Inconvénients

There is only one thing wrong in my view. The text on the web page interface is too light and is difficult to read at times. I have a question in to support to see if this can be adjusted.

Avantages

Predefined filters make it easy to block content that we wanted blocked, while not blocking the content we wanted. It was also really easy to unblock a site if it was needed.

Inconvénients

Using dynamic dns was a little bit more complicated. Our sites all use dynamic dns and would have just been easier if we did not have to go through the setting up of a dynamic dns name.

Avantages

Ease of use, Ease of implementation, Ease of reporting

Inconvénients

Whitelabeling of the apps would be a nice feature to be added

Avantages

PRO: As a DNS-based filtering solution, DNSFilter is easy to implement as it does not require additional hardware and can be enforced on "corporate" & "guest" devices without any device-specific configuration.

Inconvénients

CON: As a DNS-based filtering solution, everything is captured in the logs; user and system generated events. This makes its difficult to generate reports that show events that are exclusively generated by users.

Avantages

It is effectively turnkey. There are enough categories to filter that it feels granular, and the reporting features are a good start.

Inconvénients

Currently there is no Chrome OS app. At this point deployment of different policies, like for a Guest Network, is difficult as it requires changes to the DNS server of choice for those devices (either on a network or device level).

Avantages

Adding Networks is easy ! Dashboard is responsive ! A lot of informations ! Great pricing ! And Whitelabelling Options making it as yours ! Glad i found them !

Inconvénients

Look like More and more features will come and dnsfilter will be even better in the future !
DNS over https is here ! but DNSSEC Please !

Avantages

DNSFilter has virtually all features that an internet user need for the Internet access control. For its class, I would say it has the cheapest price too compared to other competitors.

Inconvénients

Really nothing to dislike besides the DNS protocol itself has limitations such as DNS cache issues

Avantages

I use this dns filter in combination with my ubiquiti network devices and I got to say I probably have the most secure network in my city.

Inconvénients

I have no negative ratings. Its a great way to protect my network from the bad things that exist on the internet

Avantages

The service is stable and the pay for what you use price structure is way more attractive than other competitors. It's easy to setup and has lots of features to restrict websites and block threats.

Inconvénients

The whitelist/blacklist adding additional urls was confusing at first because it wasn't clear to me that I had to click a button to add another text box to type in the next url I wanted to add. Then click save.

Avantages

It was incredibly easy to set up from scratch, setting up the account, getting the technical side going, and branding for our first client.

Inconvénients

There are a couple places to log in which have separate accounts, but that's a minor issue.

Avantages

Providing timeblock, Social Media URL links

Inconvénients

Need clarity setting up more rules in specific sites

Avantages

The best thing about this software is the value. The same service as other big name providers, but at a fraction of the cost. The pricing based on usage is fair and beats the per user model. We've been very happy with it.

Inconvénients

I haven't noticed any issues with this service. It works well and the billing is very straightforward.

Avantages

The software has a nice dashboard and is easy to configure

Inconvénients

Currently we had MARCS updater update our Dynamic IP address to DNS O Matic which then pushes that to CloudFlare, our domain registrar to update our remote host-name. When switching our DNS servers to DNS filter instead of CloudFlare's public DNS it caused the MARCS updater to frequently flip flop between our real Public IP and some other IP. When we switched it back after a few days of this it was fine again.